Thanks to my manBurgess (of Healamonster & Tarsier fame) for this week's Hip-Hop Top Five Chart from the Hollywood Amoeba store that includes many of the already high-profile major releases of the past month or more. Kanye West, Cee Lo Green, Nicki Minaj, and Diddy (with his in-demand new dancefloor driven project Dirty Money) are all once again included here, as is the latest release from T.I.,No Mercy on Grand Hustle via Atlantic Records,

Released on December 7th, the long overdue No Mercy is T.I.'s seventh album and his first new release since 2008's popular Paper Trail. For this release he pulled out all the stops, with guest appearances from some of today's hottest names, including Kanye, Eminem, The-Dream, Christina Aguilera, and Chris Brown, who is featured on the single "Get Back Up." Meanwhile, production duties are spread out among studio masters such as Danja, who produced "My Love" & "Knock You Down;" Dr. Luke, who produced "Magic" & "Right Round;" and Jim Jonsin, who worked his magic on "Whatever You Like" & "Lollipop." Note that in addition to the regular version of this CD there is also a Deluxe version that offers two bonus tracks as well as special packaging.

Special thanks to Luis at the San Francisco store for this week's top five chart. Beyond the top five, Luis notes that, "Then there's the Kanye, Curren$y and Damu the Fudgemunk, which is super dope!" The latter is also a favorite of DJ Inti at the Berkeley Amoeba, where it was a hip-hop chart contender last week. The latest SF Amoeba chart includes some local Fillmore district SF flavor from both Big Rich andAndre Nickatina. His latest outing is a joint project with his regular studio collaborator, the Tennessee to The Bay transplant Smoov E, who also sometimes goes by the name Smoov Biscuits. That explains the title of their new joint release, The King & Mr. Biscuits, which appears on Nicatina's label, I-Khan Distribution. The eleven track album features great tracks such as "For The Green (Remix) and "Genuine Draft (Remix)."

Andre Nickatina & Smoov-E "Genuine Draft (Remix)"

Meanwhile, Big Rich, who last year dropped Heart Of The City, is back with his impressive latest two-part release.Built to Last (Big Rich Music) is both an album and a documentary (CD + DVD) from the successful SF artist who has had a mixed year. Musically, he's kept busy and been artistically satisfied, he says, having spent the greater part of 2010 out on the road.

(((6))) will be playing tracks off of their current release, Arp Little Secret (cassette only & available at Amoeba Hollywood), as well as revamped versions of old songs. Locals Peeling Grey will open and between band incidental music has been personally selected by (((6)))

Special thanks to Marques at the Hollywood Amoeba Music store for this week's Hip-Hop Top Five chart of the store's best selling new hip-hop albums. In the number one, with a bullet, slot is the new Legendary Music release from Eligh and Jo Wilkinson, On Sacred Ground: Mother And Son, whose impressive guest list includes Mark Bell, The Grouch, Pigeon John, Jiro Yamaguchi, Paul Dateh, Robert Miranda, Shanti Foster, and Slug of Atmosphere. Album highlights include "By And By" (feat. The Grouch & Paul Dateh), and "Honor Me" (feat. Pigeon John). Number two on the chart is a related release featuring Scarab (also of Living Legends fame) and Very of Us Pros, the duo known as Afro Classics, with the Classic EP. The EP includes songs such as "Boom It," "The Follow Through," and "Live From Los Angeles Pt 1."